


i'm handing you this treasure

by rainstxrmkisses



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - College/University, Caregiver!Hongjoong, Crossover, Established Relationship, Everyone Loves Seonghwa, Hurt/Comfort, Little Space, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifiers, Play Date, Stuffies, hongjoong is trying his best, little park seonghwa, little!seonghwa, seonghwa is baby, sippy cups, staytinys stay winning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2020-10-26 14:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainstxrmkisses/pseuds/rainstxrmkisses
Summary: seonghwa is a little. he desperately tries to hide it, but his boyfriend finds out. maybe that's not such a bad thing?





	1. the secret

seonghwa was tired. he was tired of classes, tired of studying, tired of work, and just tired of living if he was being honest. he was only a junior in college, but already he felt like a grad student with the amount of stress he was experiencing.

there were only two things that could completely ease his stress and make him feel entirely relaxed. the first was his boyfriend, hongjoong. hongjoong was like an angel sent from heaven. he made seonghwa's life so much brighter, and every time they're together seonghwa feels at home. he can tell hongjoong anything, and he'll listen. and the second thing? he hasn't told anyone about it. not even hongjoong.

seonghwa is a little. he found out about age regression last year, when he was a sophomore and felt like the world was crushing him. he had exhausted all other options, as this was before he met hongjoong, so he thought he'd give it a try. what he didn't expect was how much better it made him feel. regressing immediately felt natural to seonghwa. he could simply exist without thinking about “grown up” things. 

there's only one problem. it's getting harder and harder to regress by himself. it's so hard for a little to navigate an apartment made for someone who's big, and hwa usually regresses pretty young. he would regress to around three or four if he could, but he knows he can be 6 at the youngest in order to lower risks. what seonghwa needs is a caregiver. but he has no idea how to get one. he want so badly to tell hongjoong about his regression, but the truth is he's terrified. he doesn't want hongjoong to think he's a weirdo and leave. so he regresses alone only when he knows he has time to himself for a while.

unfortunately, he hasn't had that time in weeks. the stress has been building and seonghwa is almost at a breaking point. 

when seonghwa comes home after a particularly stressful thursday, he can't take it anymore. the fact that he had plans with hongjoong that night doesn't even cross his mind as he makes a beeline for his room, discarding his heavy backpack and jacket in the hallway. he heads straight to his closet and rummages around in the back until he finds what he was looking for. to anyone else, it's just a nondescript brown box, probably full of junk or left over from moving. seonghwa carefully lifts the top off of the box and sets it on the floor next to him. it contains his little things that he needs when he regresses and seonghwa treasures every item in the box. there's not that many items, he can't risk being discovered. 

the first thing he pulls out of the box is a pink pacifier with little bunnies decorating it. he takes it out with a squeal of happiness and pops it into his mouth. he immediately makes a contented noise, and he can feel himself slipping into headspace as he starts sucking on the pacifier. 

next comes his sole piece of clothing just for being little, a soft yellow duck onesie. he bought it under the pretense of halloween last year, and it's his favorite this after the pacifier. it feels so good against his skin and just makes him feel so small. it's perfect for headspace. seonghwa giddily stands up, shedding his uncomfortable skinny jeans and button up. he wobbles as he steps into the onesie, bracing himself on the wall with one hand. he noticed early on that when he regresses, he tends to lose a little bit of his fine motor skills and balance. 

seonghwa finishes zipping up his onesie, giving himself a hug to bask in its softness, and looks back into the box. he lets out a disappointed sigh as he realizes that there's only a few things left in his box. he takes them out and lays them on the floor so he can figure out what he wants to use. there's a battered coloring book that has definitely seen better days, a small pack of crayons, a stuffed bear that hongjoong won for him at the fair, a simple train set, a baby blue sippy cup with dolphins on it, and a few building blocks. seonghwa surveys his options carefully, sucking on the pacifier softly. he decides on the coloring book and crayons, putting everything back in the box(not as neatly as before, last time he put away his toys he was still big). 

seonghwa skips to the living room, his coloring book and crayons clutched in his hands. he drops them unceremoniously on the coffee table, and begins to search for the remote. he knows his favorite show comes on soon, and he wants to watch while he colors. he finally finds, and clumsily presses the buttons until the right channel appears. right now daniel tiger is on, which is his second favorite show. he squeals in excitement, because arthur is on next! that's his most favorite show of all time!

he sits down on the floor next to the table, and opens his coloring book to the last page he was working on. it's an ocean scene, with lots of fish, a shark, and some crabs. seonghwa loves the ocean. he wishes he had more ocean things. he sighs and goes back to his coloring. his tongue pokes out of his mouth in concentration as he tries his best to stay in the lines.

seonghwa doesn't know how much time passes. he's gone through three whole pages of his coloring book, and by now arthur has come on the tv, and every once and a while seonghwa forgets he's coloring because he's so focused on watching. 

he finishes coloring in an octopus with a bright red crayon, and for a second, he forgets that he's alone. he jumps up with the coloring book grasped in his hand and runs to the kitchen, socked feet thumping on the floor as he pulls his pacifier out of his mouth. 

“appa, appa lookit-” he stopped in the middle of the kitchen.

right. he doesn't have an appa. he's never wished that hongjoong was here as much as he does now, but hongjoong can't know. he wants so badly for hongjoong to take care of him but seonghwa is scared. scared that he’ll be rejected. he can feel hot tears filling his eyes and he slides to the floor of the kitchen, coloring page slipping out of his hand. he's full on sobbing now, and all he wants is hongjoong. he wants to be held and loved and kissed on the cheek and tucked into bed. he wants his appa. 

he continues sniffling and decides he wants some juice. that will make him feel better, right? so seonghwa shuffles back to his room, grabs the sippy cup from the box and goes back to the kitchen. he sets it on the counter and goes to the fridge. he opens it and pulls out the sole jug of juice, the only one he allows himself to have for times like this so he doesn't raise suspicions. it's peach mango, and it's his absolute favorite. 

he struggles to lift the jug to pour into his cup, and slowly pours the juice, only spilling a little bit. overall he’s proud of himself, he's made worse messes. 

suddenly, he hears a soft knock and a voice outside the door. it startled him, and he drops the juice jug. it hits the ground and juice spills all over the floor, seeping into the cracks in the kitchen tile. seonghwa wails in despair, he doesn't know what to do. this is why he needs a caregiver, he can't do this by himself. he starts to cry again, but snaps his head towards the door when he hears the person on the other side call through the door. 

“hwa? it's hongjoong, is everything okay? please answer me!” 

seonghwa yelps when he hears hongjoong’s voice. why is he here?! he can't be here! hongjoong can’t see him like this! he puts his pacifier back in his mouth and scurries into his bedroom and slides under the bed. maybe if he stays really quiet then hongjoong will go away. he squeezes his eyes shut as he starts to cry harder, trying to be as silent as possible. 

“hwa? please i know you're in there. i can hear the tv. i just want to help, i'm worried about you.” seonghwa curls further into himself as he hears hongjoong’s muffled voice through the door. he couldn't bring himself to reply, let alone get up and let him in. there was no way he would let hongjoong see him like this.


	2. the reveal

hongjoong checks his watch for the fifth time in three minutes. seonghwa is nearly thirty minutes late, which is extremely unusual for him. hongjoong has known him long enough to know that seonghwa hates being late, so he's getting worried. he checks his phone. seonghwa hasn't answered the spam of text messages he sent, or even read them for that matter, which is also unlike him. 

he bites his lip in thought as he looks around the restaurant. should he call? seonghwa would never be late without a valid reason, and would definitely let hongjoong know if he was going to be late to a date. especially since they had been planning this for a week. hongjoong sighs and picks up his phone, dialing seonghwa’s number. 

“hi, you’ve reached park seonghwa! i'm not able to reach the phone right now, please leave a message and i'll back to you as soon as i can!” the phone beeps and hongjoong takes a deep breath.

“hey hwa! it's me. please call me back or at least answer your phone, i'm getting worried! for all i know you could be in a van somewhere never to be seen again.” hongjoong laughs nervously and shakes his head. “um yeah, just call me back, okay? i love you.” 

hongjoong puts his phone down and sits back in the stiff restaurant chair. how long should he wait before he should get really worried? well, he was already pretty worried, but he wonders if he should go check seonghwa’s apartment just in case. seonghwa probably just forgot and went to bed early? hongjoong shakes his head, that's also unlike seonghwa. 

he can't take it anymore, he stands up and quickly walks out of the restaurant to his parked car. He gets in and immediately speeds off to seonghwa’s apartment. he's been there so many times he barely needs to pay attention, the turns are nearly muscle memory. soon he's pulling up to seonghwa’s apartment building. he quickly gets out of the car and makes his way to the stairs, locking his car over his shoulder. 

hongjoong finally gets up the stairs and slows down as he reaches seonghwa’s door. before knocking, hongjoong leans close to the door to see if he can hear anything. he can hear faint voices that he assumes is the tv, which is a good sign. he's hoping seonghwa just fell asleep while watching a show. hongjoong has noticed that seonghwa has been extra tired lately, and hasn't been his usual self. maybe he needed a recharge day? he wishes seonghwa told him these things, hongjoong would have been perfectly fine with staying in and catching up on rest. upon listening a little further, he can hear muffled cries.

“hwa? it's hongjoong, is everything okay? please let answer me!” hongjoong says after softly knocking on the door.

no answer. after a moment, he tries again.

“hwa? please i know you're in there. i can hear the tv. i just want to help, i'm worried about you.”

again, no answer. he takes a shaky breath and fishes around in his bag for the spare key seonghwa gave him because of how often he was at seonghwa's apartment. he quickly opens the door and steps inside, taking note of the discarded backpack on the floor and shoes haphazardly thrown aside. he quietly takes his shoes off and sets his own bag down. he walks slowly down the hallway, heading to the living room where he can hear the tv playing. 

hongjoong walks into the living room, and immediately stops. there's pbs kids playing on the tv, a sippy cup among a dozen crayons and a coloring book that looked very well worn on the coffee table. he lets out a breathe. he knew something was up with seonghwa, but he was not expecting…this. 

he stood in the middle of the living room, surveying his surroundings. hongjoong thinks he knows what's happening here. he's heard of this thing called age regression, he knows his friends wooyoung and yeosang have talked about their friend from a neighboring university, jimin, who regresses and is taken care of by his boyfriend, hoseok. secretly, he thought it was very cute. he had wondered what it was like to take care of someone like that, and he found himself wanting to try it. he thought of himself as pretty good with kids, and his friends always jokingly called him a dad. so standing here in seonghwa’s living room with evidence of seonghwa's regression, he realizes he’s calm. he wonders why seonghwa thought he had to hide this from him, has he given off unapproachable vibes? he didn't think so, maybe this just made seonghwa very insecure. he can see why. wooyoung had said one time that jimin regressed very rarely, as he was very self conscious about it. 

hongjoong realizes the tv is still playing, and he fumbles around for the remote, pausing the high pitched kid’s show that was on. once the living room was quiet, he suddenly could hear sniffling. he didn't know where it was coming from, but it was definitely seonghwa, and he was crying. 

“hwa, baby please come out! i just wanna talk to you!” he called softly. 

he waited a few seconds, but still nothing. he sighed. then he had an idea. kids like hide and seek, right? maybe he can lure seonghwa out with the game. 

“hwa, are you playing hide and seek? do you want hyung to find you?” the sniffling stopped. that's a good sign, so hongjoong continued, “did you know i'm really good at hide and seek? i'm gonna find you!” he said in a sing-song voice he only used for his 5 year old niece. 

hongjoong heard a small muffled giggle coming from down the hall where hwa’s bedroom is. he should have know seonghwa would be there. he began to creep towards the room on his tiptoes.

“ready or not, here i come!” he says in a soft voice.

he reaches the bedroom and slowly opens the door. he surveys the room, and noticed a socked foot poking out from under the bed. he pauses then says, in a big voice, “hmm i wonder where hwa could be? is he, in the closet??” he threw open the closet door. he feigns surprise, “not here?? then where could he be??” 

he heard more muffled giggling from under the bed and whipped around. “oh, did i hear someone?” he crept towards the bed. “i think it's coming from the bed, is it a little monster? i'm gonna get you, little monster!” 

he quickly crouched down and grabbed seonghwa’s leg, giving it a little squeeze. “got you, little monster!” seonghwa squealed and crawled out from under the bed trying to avoid hongjoong, who was trying to tickle him. he managed to catch seonghwa and started tickling to no end, and seonghwa laughed and laughed and laughed. hongjoong wanted to capture his laugh forever. it was like tinkling bells, and it was softer and higher than big seonghwa’s voice. 

seonghwa suddenly yelped, and hongjoong immediately stopped. “what's wrong, baby, did i hurt you?” he asked frantically, worried he had been too rough.

“no, hyung you're not s’posed to be here!” seonghwa starts crying again, and hongjoong is quick to try to comfort him, barely registering that seonghwa had called him hyung. 

“baby, what do you mean?” he pulls seonghwa into his lap, who reluctantly lets himself be held. 

between quiet sobs seonghwa chokes out, “cause i'm small! you're not s’posed to lookit me small!” he curled his fists against hongjoong’s chest and started crying harder. “i'm-i'm weird! joongie won’ love m-me!” he wails, and hongjoong stills at his words.

“baby, look at me.” he lifts seonghwa’s chin, and wipes his tears with his thumb. “joongie will always love you. i don't think you're weird,angel.” 

seonghwa whined and turned his face away. “but...but…”

“no buts. joongie will love you no matter what.” hongjoong assures him. 

“o-okay.” seonghwa took a deep breath, looking deep into hongjoong’s eyes. “i love you, app- joongie.” 

hongjoong notices that little slip up. seonghwa almost called him...appa. he thinks about that for a second. he...likes it? It makes him feel protective, and he likes being protective of seonghwa. this is just like when they're out and about and girls and boys alike try to make a move on seonghwa, only much cuter. 

“angel, do you want to call me appa?” he said slowly, looking down at the boy in his lap.

“um, you don’ haf to-” seonghwa starts.

“if that’s what you want, i’m okay with it, angel.” hongjoong interrupts before seonghwa could finish. seonghwa blushes deeply.

“joongie- t’ank you.” seonghwa whispers. then he yawns wide and subconsciously nestles closer into hongjoong’s chest.

“oh angel, are you tired? what a long day you've had, hm?” hongjoong murmurs, running his hands through seonghwa’s hair. 

“mhm.” seonghwa mumbles, but it's slightly muffled as he's still pressed into hongjoong’s chest. 

hongjoong smiled. it's only been about ten minutes and he's already in love with little seonghwa. he feels so comfortable in his caretaker role, which surprises him a little. if you had told him yesterday that he'd be taking care of his boyfriend like he was a toddler, he'd probably have thought you were crazy. he can't wait to spend more time with little seonghwa, and he hopes that seonghwa will continue opening up to him. 

seonghwa whines again and curls impossibly closely to joong and puts his thumb in his mouth. hongjoong looks down at him and chuckles, and slowly tries to get up while still holding seonghwa. as he attempts to stand, he sees a pacifier on the floor near the bed. it must have fallen out of seonghwa’s mouth during the tickle fight. he reaches over, grabbing it and gently pulls seonghwa’s thumb out of his mouth and replacing it with the pacifier. seonghwa hums contentedly, and hongjoong nearly coos out loud with the cuteness. 

he manages to stand up with seonghwa gathered in his arms. it's no small task, and seonghwa is still a little bigger than hongjoong, but he manages to stumble over to the bed and slowly lay seonghwa down. he crawls on the bed beside seonghwa pulls the covers over both of them. he wraps his arms around seonghwa, who hums again and clings to hongjoong’s shirt. hongjoong strokes seonghwa’s hair as seonghwa slowly falls asleep, murmuring the words to a lullaby that he remembers from his own childhood. they fall asleep like that, curled up together, seonghwa nestled safely in hongjoong’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should i continue this fic? let me know if you want to see the other members, or i'm thinking of adding a play date with little jimin and his caregiver hoseok! hope you guys enjoy🥰


	3. the storm

seonghwa is terrified. he can hear the rain pounding against the window, and it's only getting worse. he had woken up a few hours ago when the storm started out of nowhere, and no matter how hard he tries he can't fall back asleep.

  
  


the thing is, seonghwa is already deathly afraid of the dark, and the storm only makes things 10 times worse. 

  
  


he’s still wrapped in hongjoong’s arms, but he's afraid to wake him. he doesn't want his appa to be mad at him. his...smallness is still new to hongjoong and seonghwa doesn't want to ruin it. so he lays awake, curling ever closer to hongjoong, close to tears due to the crippling fear of the storm. 

  
  


as he finally began to feel sleep approaching at last, the brightest stroke of lightning yet illuminates the room, followed by a tremendous clap of thunder. seonghwa helps and buried himself under the covers, clinging to hongjoong. he's shaking like a leaf, and he can feel tears start to flow down his face. he struggles to hold his whimpers in so as to not disturb hongjoong, but he can barely hold it. 

  
  


***

  
  


“seonghwa? angel what's the matter?” seonghwa hears hongjoong’s half-asleep voice mumble above him. seonghwa lets out a loud whine and tightens his hold on hongjoong's shirt.

  
  


“the-the storm is scary, appa. hwa is scared!” he whimpers. 

  
  


“oh, don't worry, angel. i'm here. nothing can hurt you here.” hongjoong murmurs, reaching down to stroke seonghwa’s soft hair. “it's okay, baby, come here.” seonghwa lets himself be gently pulled upwards, and hongjoong wraps his arms around seonghwa again. hongjoong continues stroking seonghwa’s hair in an attempt to calm his shuddering breaths. suddenly hongjoong has an idea, something his mother used to do for him when he was scared.

  
  


“hwa, baby, do you want some warm milk and honey?” he asks softly, looking down at the shaking boy and praying that his idea works. seonghwa immediately looks up, eyes wide.

  
  


“would appa do that for me?” seonghwa asks timidly.

  
  


“of course baby. let's go get you some milk.” 

  
  


hongjoong pulls back the covers and slides out of bed, taking seonghwa’s hand and leads him to the kitchen. and immediately stops when he gets there. there is juice all over the floor, along with the jug itself along with a sippy cup. 

  
  


“angel, what happened?” hongjoong asks, looking at seonghwa, who looks like he's about to cry again.

  
  


“i w-wanted some juice, s-so i was getting it an’ then appa knocked and s-cared me so i d-dropped it an’ ran.” seonghwa says in a trembling voice. 

  
  


“oh, baby, i'm sorry for startling you! it's okay, appa will clean it up.” hongjoongs says, attempting to calm the boy down. he takes seonghwa to one of the bar stools and tells him to sit down while he cleans up the mess.

  
  


hongjoong finds the paper towel holder on the counter and begins mopping up the juice. as he finishes, he realizes he must have been making a face because he hears seonghwa whimpering. he looks up at the boy sitting at the counter, and he can see the tears filling his eyes. he immediately softens.

  
  


“baby, what's wrong? appa is cleaning up the mess, it's okay!”

  
  


“appa is mad at hwa!” seonghwa wails, tears beginning to fall.

  
  


“oh, angel i'm not mad!” hongjoong soothes, going over to clasp the boy’s hands in his own. “it's just a lot of juice, don't worry.” he says as he wipes the tears from seonghwa's cheeks.

  
  


“o-okay. if you say so.” seonghwa says reluctantly. 

  
  


“see baby? i'm not mad. now let appa make you something sweet.” 

  
  


“bu-but don’ wanna let go!” seonghwa whines, pouting deeply and tightening his grip on hongjoong’s hand.

  
  


“i can't make you anything if you're holding on to me, silly. i'll be quick, i promise.”

  
  


seonghwa whines again before reluctantly letting go. hongjoong squeezes his hand before he lets go, then makes his way to the fridge after throwing away the soaked paper towels. hongjoong takes out the milk, and grabs the honey. he thinks for a second, then grabs cinnamon too. he pours the milk carefully into a measuring cup and puts it into the microwave. the way seonghwa is staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers does not escape him. he smiles softly, looking back at seonghwa while the milk is slowly heating.

  
  


he still doesn't know exactly what to make of this situation, but he does know that he needs to be there for seonghwa. it is a little strange, but somehow hongjoong already feels comfortable in his role as seonghwa’s caregiver. he even doesn't mind being called  _ appa.  _ he knows they’re going to need to have a conversation about it when seonghwa is big again, but for now? he can just enjoy his adorable little angel.

  
  


“appa, it's beeping!” seonghwa called softly, pulling hongjoong out of his thoughts. he turns back to the microwave and carefully takes the milk out, setting it on the counter.

  
  


hongjoong reaches for the honey, and plops two teaspoons of honey in, along with a dash of cinnamon. he remembers the sippy cup on the floor, and bends down to pick it up off the floor where he forgot to get it earlier. he goes to the sink to clean it out, then pours the sweet milk into the cup. he screws the lid on tightly, as he doesn't know how clumsy little seonghwa is, but judging by the mess it's safe to say he's pretty messy. 

  
  


“this is the drink my mom used to make for me when i was upset. she called it a hot ponyo!” hongjoong says cheerfully to seonghwa as he hands him the sippy cup. 

  
  


“hot p-ponyo…” seonghwa smiles as he repeats what hongjoong said. his face immediately lights up as he takes a sip. 

  
  


“good!” he exclaims. “appa, you're the bestest!” he punctuates his statement by giving hongjoong a peck on the cheek. he realizes what he did and his face turns bright pink, and he slides back into his seat, continuing to drink his milk. hongjoong chuckles softly and ruffles seonghwa's hair, feeling heat rise in his cheeks as well.

  
  


seonghwa finishes his milk quickly, and places the sippy cup on the counter. hongjoong can see his eyes dropping slightly, and can tell he's struggling to keep himself upright. he glances over at the clock, and starts. it was nearly 3am! no wonder seonghwa was tired.

  
  


“come on, angel. let's go back to bed, hm?” hongjoong says softly, lightly pinching seonghwa’s cheek.

  
  


“mkay.” seonghwa sighs contentedly, leaning into hongjoong’s touch.

  
  


hongjoong takes his hand again and leads him back to the bedroom, seonghwa rubbing his eyes the whole way. once in the room, hongjoong makes his way to the bed, pulling the covers back for seonghwa. he helps the boy climb into bed, but then remembers something.

  
  


“hwa, angel, what happened to your pacifier?” he asks the boy softly. 

  
  


“i don know.” he mumbles. “think i lost it before milk.”

  
  


hongjoong digs around the bed before he produces the pacifier from under a fold in the blanket. he gently puts it in seonghwa’s waiting mouth, then climbs into the bed. he brings the covers back over them and wraps his arms around seonghwa, who immediately curls into hongjoong’s embrace. and for the second time that night, seonghwa falls asleep cuddled in hongjoong’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do y'all think so far?? should i add the cameos soon or just continue with hwa/joong bonding time? i love reading your comments🥺
> 
> and here's the full hot ponyo recipe, i really love it
> 
> 1\. add 2 teaspoons of honey to a mug  
2\. add a pinch of cinnamon  
3\. fill half the mug with hot water  
4\. fill the rest with milk and stir well


	4. the talk

hongjoong awakes gradually, pulling himself out of an unmemorable dream. he yawns and looks down, remembering that he's at seonghwa’s apartment when he sees seonghwa resting his head against his chest. he sighs softly, just admiring how cute seonghwa looks when he's asleep. hongjoong wonders if he'll still be little when he wakes up. 

  
  


just then, seonghwa starts grumbling, tightening his hold on hongjoong’s shirt. he slowly lifts his head and blinks at hongjoong. 

  
  


he tries to say something, but it comes out muffled, as he still has the pacifier in his mouth. his face turns and he pulls it out of his mouth.

  
  


“oh god. you saw everything.” he groans, burying his head back into the covers.

  
  


“baby, it's fine. i think it's cute!” hongjoong replies as he cards his fingers through seonghwa’s hair.

  
  


“shut up.” he mumbles, half-heartedly hitting his fist against hongjoong’s chest. 

  
  


“it is!” he protests. “although i might be biased, i find you cute all the time.”

  
  


“you're so annoying.”

  
  


“you know you are.”

  
  


“ugh. sappy.”

  
  


they sit in silence for a bit, just enjoying each other’s company. after a bit, hongjoong realizes that they still need to talk about last night. the only problem is hongjoong doesn't know where to start. even with his limited knowledge, he knows that this type of thing requires communication in order to work. 

  
  


however, he can seonghwa that seonghwa is extremely nervous, as he isn’t looking at hongjoong and is playing with the hem of hongjoong’s shirt. hongjoong figures that seonghwa is not about to start this conversation, so he takes a deep breath.

  
  


“so. do you want to start with how this all began, and we'll go from there?” 

  
  


“um, okay. it was probably about a year ago, before i met you.” seonghwa starts quietly, not looking at hongjoong. “i was extremely stressed and i didn't know how to cope. i somehow stumbled across age regression, and i uh decided to try it? i don't know it sounds stupid.” 

  
  


“it's not stupid, baby. we all have to cope somehow, right?” hongjoong assures him, stroking seonghwa’s hair.

  
  


“i know, but still. it's...embarrassing, to say the least.” 

  
  


“don't be embarrassed, baby! you know i think it's adorable, and my opinion is the only one that matters!” hongjoong says in a singsong voice, earning a quiet scoff from seonghwa. 

  
  


“shut up.” 

  
  


“it is! and you can take your time, baby. you obviously need this.” hongjoong assures. 

  
  


“i-i know, but still. you're the only person who knows, and it's a side of myself that's not exactly my favorite.” seonghwa sighs. 

  
  


“and that is perfectly valid. you need time to come to terms with it. and i'm here every step of the way.” 

  
  


they lapse into a content silence after that. neither of them feel the need to speak again, because they just know. hongjoong knows how hard it is for a shy person like seonghwa to be this vulnerable, so he just lets seonghwa hold onto him, timing their breaths so they're in sync. 

  
  


“hongjoong?” seonghwa says quietly, breaking the quiet. 

  
  


“yes, hwa?”

  
  


“i love you.” 

  
  


“i love you too.” 

  
  


hongjoong tucks a stray piece of hair behind seonghwa’s ear, and smiles down at him. seonghwa looks back at him with such adoration in his eyes that hongjoong almost melts. he wonders how he didn't notice seonghwa was a little until now. 

  
  


“okay, i'm hungry, lets go get some breakfast.” seonghwa says after a while. 

  
  


“sure! do you wanna go out?” 

  
  


“yes, please! i really don't feel like making anything.” seonghwa replies, pulling himself out of hongjoong's arms and gets up to get dressed.

  
  


“sounds like a plan.”

  
  


they end up at a little café near seonghwa’s apartment, each with a coffee and sharing a plate of french toast. it's a perfect morning. they sit outside, and simply enjoy each other's company, temporarily putting everything else out of mind.

  
  


“so, can we talk about your little space?” hongjoong asks once they're almost done with the french toast.

  
  


“um, why? i thought we already did.” seonghwa replies, looking away.

  
  


“well, that was the serious stuff. i wanna know more about little you, like what kind of toys you want and things like that.” hongjoong says, reaching across the table to hold seonghwa’s hand.

  
  


“joong, it's embarrassing.” seonghwa whines, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

  
  
  


“please? if i'm gonna take care of you, then i need to know what you like!” hongjoong pleads, and seonghwa sighs.

  
  


“ugh, fine. what do you want to know?” seonghwa gives in.

  
  


“yay!” hongjoong says, clapping his hands excitedly. “first, is there anything in particular you like to be called?”

  
  


“um, i liked it when you called me angel.” seonghwa says sheepishly. “and um i'd like it if you called me…” he trails off before finishing his sentence.

  
  


“what, baby? i promise i won't laugh.” hongjoong assures, squeezing his hand.

  
  


“um...princess.” he squeaks, barely audible.

  
  


“awww that's literally the most adorable thing i've ever heard!” hongjoong exclaims.

  
  


“i'm gonna kill you.”

  
  


“i'm serious, it's so cute! i'll definitely remember that the next time you regress.” hongjoong says cheerfully.

  
  


“ugh. next question.” seonghwa says, rolling his eyes so hard hongjoong thinks they may disappear forever.

  
  


“okay, uhhh…” hongjoong thinks hard. what would he want a caregiver to know if he was a little? “is there any toys you want that you don't already have?”

  
  


“well, i really only have three toys right now. didn't want to get found out.” seonghwa says sadly. hongjoong starts to say something but seonghwa stops him. “i know it sounds sad, but i was trying to be inconspicuous.”

  
  


“but now you don't have to hide anymore! i cant wait to buy you everything you want.” 

  
  


“joong, stop, you're so annoying.”

  
  


“and that's why you love me!” hongjoong says in a singsong voice, making seonghwa blush even more than he was already.

  
  


hongjoong couldn't believe how excited he was over this. he truly thought seonghwa was adorable, and he was ecstatic that seonghwa was sharing this part of himself. he was already thinking of what he could buy seonghwa. he just wanted to be there for his boyfriend, because seonghwa needed him. he planned on taking this very seriously (although not too seriously when it came to little seonghwa).

  
  


“i mean, it would be nice to get some more stuffies…” seonghwa breaks through hongjoong’s thoughts with his quiet and timid voice. 

  
  


“of course! do you wanna stop at a toy store or something? we can get you some stuffies and then if you see anything else you like we can get it!” hongjoong replies excitedly.

  
  


“i'd love to, but i have class in thirty minutes, remember?” seonghwa says, checking his watch. hongjoong deflates.

  
  


“oh, right.” he says. he thinks for a minute. “that's okay, i'll just pick you up after class!” 

  
  


“okay, okay! sounds good to me.” seonghwa chuckles softly.

  
  


“okay! shall i walk you to class?” 

  
  


“i'd love that.”

  
  


they clean up their little table, and walk out of the café hand in hand. hongjoong wraps his arm around seonghwa’s waist (he's too short to reach his shoulders) and pulls seonghwa to him. they walk like that the whole way to class, oblivious to the looks they got in the street by passers by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took forever to finish this chapter, and sorry it's so short! life has been kicking my ass lately. what do y'all think so far? i love to read your comments🥺


	5. seonghwa makes some friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys sorry it took so long to update this! life has been crazy hehe

seonghwa can't believe he said yes to this. in just two short hours, a few of him and hongjoong’s shared friends are coming over, and he's going to be little. hongjoong suggested that he have a few playmates in the form of his friends when he's little, and seonghwa has reluctantly agreed. he figured it would be good for him to have someone else to play with to help out hongjoong, who was still new to this.

  
  


seonghwa was honestly surprised that they said yes to this. san and wooyoung has enthusiastically agreed, almost jumping up and down with the prospect of seeing little seonghwa. yeosang had apprehensively(and a bit curiously) agreed, much to seonghwa’s surprise. yeosang wasn't exactly the biggest fan of kids in general, but he was willing to help his friend. 

  
  


so it was understandable that seonghwa is nervous. he'd only been little with hongjoong three times since that first day, and his little headspace was still warming up to him as a caregiver. he'd never even thought of someone else seeing him little, but now it was happening. deep down, he’s excited. his little self always longed for playmates, ones without the attached relationship of a caregiver. this was the first step that he needed to take. he has a feeling that having someone to play with in little space would help him relax even more. 

  
  


yet, there's a little voice in his head that says otherwise. he gets up from his place on the bed and begins pacing. what if they think he's a freak? what if they hate his little self? what if they don't want to be his friends anymore?

  
  


he must have been pacing rather aggressively, and after a few minutes he hears a soft knock and hongjoong quietly opens the door.

  
  


“everything okay, baby? i can hear you thinking.” he chuckles as he makes his way up to his boyfriend, enveloping him in a hug despite being shorter.

  
  


“oh, i'm just nervous, that's all.” seonghwa sighs.

  
  


“that's understandable! if you don't feel up for it, i can call this off.”

  
  


“no!” seonghwa says quickly, blushing when he realizes how desperately he said it. “um, i wanna do it. it'll be good for me. but it's slightly terrifying.” 

  
  


“i know, baby. but i'm here! and they're our friends, they won't judge you. if they do, then i'll kick them out.” hongjoong replies simply, pulling out of the hug to look a seonghwa in the face. 

  
  


“joong!”

  
  


“what? this is you, if they don't accept this side of you, they're not real friends. but trust me, they'll love little you.” hongjoong says, and stands on his tiptoes to kiss seonghwa on the nose. a blush creeps into his cheeks, and he hides his face in his hands.

  
  


“babe, you're gonna make me slip into headspace.” seonghwa whines.

  
  


“maybe i want that.” hongjoong says slyly. “besides, you should probably already be little when san, wooyoung, and yeosang get here anyway, hm?” 

  
  


“probably.” seonghwa sighs. 

  
  


he allows hongjoong to take his hand and lead him to the closet where his box of little things was hidden. they had fallen into a routine in order to help seonghwa regress, because for the few times he's regressed since that first day, hongjoong usually had to suggest he do so. seonghwa was still scared to tell hongjoong when he was stressed and needed to be little, or just when wanted to. hongjoong realized that seonghwa needed to be guided into little space most of the time, except when he was  _ really _ stressed and just fell into headspace. 

  
  


the second time seonghwa regressed in front of hongjoong he fell into headspace, it was another extremely stressful situation. seonghwa has a tendency to bottle up his emotions, and when he finally breaks he goes tumbling into little space. so hongjoong has gotten good at picking up signs that he needs to regress in order to stop that from happening. 

  
  


so they had a (rather awkward) conversation about what would help seonghwa regress, and they developed a routine. seonghwa said that soft kisses and the cute nicknames hongjoong had gotten into the habit of using helped, and his yellow duck onesie. after that first time, however, hongjoong bought him several onesies. he now had the duck, a pink bunny, and a brown bear to choose from. they both knew that the pacifier made seonghwa feel very small, so hongjoong also bought him a few more, one to match each onesie (hongjoong’s mother used to dress him in matching things, and he thought it was the most adorable thing).

  
  


so hongjoong sits seonghwa on the bed to wait for him to get the box(which was now almost full with the things hongjoong had bought) and places a soft kiss on his forehead. hongjoong moves to the closet and pulls the box out into the middle of the room, carefully taking out the pacifiers and holding them up for seonghwa. seonghwa selects the duck one, and places it into his mouth, humming contentedly. hongjoong takes out the duck onesie to match the pacifier, and carefully helps seonghwa out of his big clothes and into the onesie. hongjoong can already tell that seonghwa is slipping into headspace, as he lets hongjoong help him without protest. 

  
  


after getting changed, seonghwa starts leaning into hongjoong, already clingy. hongjoong has noticed that he gets extra touchy and affectionate when little, and hongjoong loves it. hongjoong sits down next to the box, pulling seonghwa into his lap as he does so.

  
  


“so, angel, what do you want to play with today?” hongjoong murmurs softly, wrapping his arms around seonghwa’s waist as they look in the box at the small assortment of toys. hongjoong seonghwa sucks on the pacifier, deep in thought, then he points at his train set. “ah, good choice! do you wanna get it set up in the living room?” seonghwa nods enthusiastically, grabbing the little train set box and clambers out of hongjoong’s lap.

  
  


hongjoong chuckles and follows him to the living room, and when he gets there seonghwa is sitting in the middle of the little open space the small living room has, struggling to open the box. when hongjoong walks up to him, seonghwa turns to him with an embarrassed expression on his face. 

  
  


“appa, open pleathe.” seonghwa says sheepishly, voice muffled from the pacifier. 

  
  


“of course, baby.” he gently takes the box from him and slides his fingers under the cardboard top, pulling it out and open. he takes the trains out and places them in front of seonghwa. he looks at the little when he's done, and almost melts. seonghwa his looking up at him with an expression of awe on his face with his mouth slightly open, pacifier in danger of falling out. 

  
  


“t’ank you, appa.” seonghwa whispers shyly.

  
  


“you're welcome, angel.” hongjoong coos, gently pushing the pacifier back into seonghwa's mouth before laying on his stomach next to the boy. seonghwa smiles and turns to the trains, immediately setting about attempting to put the cars together to make one long train. he sucks on the pacifier thoughtfully, and hongjoong just enjoys watching him have fun. 

  
  


after a bit, he hears knocking at the door. he sets the train he had been circling around seonghwa down, patting seonghwa on the head as he gets up.

  
  


“hwa, angel, that must be your playmates! stay here while appa goes to let them in!” hongjoong says, and makes his way to the front door. he looks through the peephole just to make sure, and there are his three friends. he unlocks the door and opens it to a chorus of hellos, and they all make their way inside the small entryway of the apartment.

  
  


“so, is he already little?” san asks immediately. 

  
  


“yes, so we need to lower our voices. i've noticed he gets startled by loud noises.” hongjoong replies softly.

  
  


“oh, of course! my little cousin is like that!” san stage whispers.

  
  


“joong, i hope it's okay but we thought it'd be nice to bring hwa some gifts!” wooyoung exclaims quietly, and san holds out a bag while yeosang holds out a messily wrapped box. “i know you said he doesn't have many toys so we wanted to get him something, but we didn't know if he'd-”

  
  


“oh, you guys are too nice!” hongjoong interrupts. “i'm sure he'll love them.” 

  
  


“so, can we say hi to him now?” yeosang asks softly.

  
  


“right, of course! come on in!” 

  
  


the boys follow hongjoong down the entryway and into the living room. there's the trains on the floor, only there's no seonghwa in sight. hongjoong sighs.

  
  


“he has a habit of hiding when he's scared.” hongjoong explains, stepping further into the room. “baby, where are you? they're your friends, they're not gonna hurt you.” he calls out. he hears a sniffle from behind the couch, and he moves over to the sound. he peeks behind the couch, and there's seonghwa, knees curled into his chest and hands covering his face.

  
  


“it's okay, baby. i'm here.” hongjoong soothes, gently pulling seonghwa’s hands away from his face. “why don't you come out and say hello?” seonghwa shakes his head.

  
  


“hwa? we have a surprise for you.” san calls hopefully. seonghwa perks up at that. 

  
  


“sussie? for me?” he mumbles through the pacifier.

  
  


“yes, they have a sussie for you! come see what it is.” hongjoong chuckles, and seonghwa whines around the pacifier. he makes grabby hands and hongjoong, who sighs and takes his hands, pulling him up. 

  
  


as soon as seonghwa sees san, wooyoung, and yeosang, he whimpers again and hides behind hongjoong as best he can, clinging to his arm.

  
  


“come on, baby, say hi. they won't bite.”

  
  


“hwa? don't you wanna see what we got you?” san tries, stepping closer. at that, seonghwa peeks out from behind hongjoong. san sits down on the floor, gesturing everyone to follow suit. hongjoong sits in front of the other three boys and gathers seonghwa into his lap. he's still trying to hide himself, and hongjoong wraps his arms around the boy, comforting him.

  
  


“here, hwa! do you want to open them?” san asks, taking the bag from yeosang and setting the box and the bag in front of seonghwa. seonghwa’s eyes widen and he gasps softly. he slowly reaches out and takes the bag, putting it in his lap. 

  
  


“go on, baby.” hongjoong encourages. seonghwa slowly pulls out the tissue paper.

  
  


“s’uffies!” he squeals as he gets through the tissue and pulls out a rather round teddy bear and a white stuffed rabbit. he immediately hugs both of them close to his chest and buried his face in the soft toys.

  
  


“what do you say, angel?” hongjoong prompts.

  
  


“t’ank you, sannie hyung!” seonghwa exclaims. san starts a little bit at seonghwa calling him hyung but recovers quickly, reaching over to pinch seonghwa’s cheeks.

  
  


“you're welcome, sweetheart!” he coos.

  
  


“now open mine!” yeosang exclaims. 

  
  


seonghwa reaches for the hastily wrapped box while still holding the stuffies, attempting to hold both. hongjoong chuckles and gently takes the stuffies from seonghwa, putting them off to the side so seonghwa can focus on the gift. seonghwa carefully starts to unwrap the present, sucking on his pacifier as he tries to open it without ruining the wrapping paper. as soon as he gets past the wrapping paper, he screeches and jumps up to hug yeosang. 

  
  


“t'ank you t’ank you t’ank you!” seonghwa chants as he clings to yeosang.

  
  


“baby, what did he get you?” hongjoong asks, chuckling at seonghwa's antics.

  
  


“issa tea set!” seonghwa exclaims, turning back to hongjoong and shoving the box in his face. 

  
  


sure enough, yeosang had gotten seonghwa a pink tea set with little kittens on all the pieces. 

  
  


“lookit the kittens!” seonghwa shouts happily, pointing at them while still holding the box up into hongjoong’s face. in his excitement seonghwa's pacifier falls out, but it's luckily attached to his shirt by a clip so it doesn't hit the floor. hongjoong doesn't bother putting it back yet, it’ll probably just fall out again.

  
  


“yes, baby, i see them!”

  
  


“appa, can we have a tea party?” seonghwa asks, giving hongjoong the biggest puppy eyes. 

  
  


“of course!” 

  
  


and so hongjoong finds himself sitting cross-legged at the coffee table with the other three boys, along with seonghwa’s new stuffies. seonghwa is busy pouring imaginary tea into everyone’s cups, as hongjoong thought it'd be best not to test seonghwa's pouring capabilities with real liquid. seonghwa seems to have warmed up to san, wooyoung, and yeosang, but he still avoids eye contact and speaks very softly. but he's happy, and that's all that matters. hongjoong loves how excited little hwa is about having friends to play with. 

  
  


hongjoong checks his watch after a while, and starts when he realizes it's nearly one in the afternoon. when seonghwa is little, hongjoong has noticed that he needs to eat earlier, or he gets cranky. wanting to avoid any issues with seonghwa’s attitude, he stops the tea party for a second.

  
  


“hwa, angel, are you getting hungry yet? it's time for lunch!” he asks the boy, stopping him in the middle of pouring yeosang some more “tea.” 

  
  


“but appa, we was still playing!” seonghwa whines. 

  
  


“baby, you have to eat.” hongjoong chides.

  
  


“we can keep playing after we eat, silly!” san adds, trying to help hongjoong.

  
  


“i guess.” seonghwa says with a pout.

  
  


“okay, what do you want, angel?” hongjoong asks.

  
  


“uhhhmm…waffles!” seonghwa exclaims excitedly after thinking for a minute, making hongjoong chuckle.

  
  


“waffles it is.” he says with a smile.

  
  


“can i help appa make them?” seonghwa asks, giving hongjoong puppy eyes. 

  
  


“of course, angel!” hongjoong replies, getting up and moving towards the kitchen.

  
  


it's not until later that he realizes that letting a little help make waffle batter was a bad idea.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter turned out much longer than i thought it would be! do you guys like longer chapters? i hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as i enjoyed writing it <3


	6. yeosang makes a discovery

hongjoong doesn't know why he thought letting seonghwa help with the waffles was a good idea. there he is, in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by chaos. there's waffle batter everywhere, various cooking utensils strewn around the room, and one very happy little. seonghwa is currently trying to pour batter into the waffle maker with the help of yeosang, but it's not going well. neither wooyoung, san, or yeosang have the heart to tell seonghwa he's doing anything wrong, which is why the kitchen is currently a disaster zone. 

  
  


but seonghwa is having fun, and batter isn't that hard to clean up, so hongjoong just lets it happen. he watches seonghwa pour the batter, his tongue sticking out of his mouth and his brows furrowed in concentration. yeosang has his hands over seonghwa’s and is guiding him, while wooyoung and san encourage him. wooyoung has his phone out, snapping pictures that seonghwa will surely make him delete later. but for now, everything is good.

  
  


until seonghwa accidentally burns his finger on the waffle maker. 

  
  


a piercing scream rips through the apartment just as hongjoong reaches the bedroom, on his way to fetch seonghwa’s sippy cup. he spins around and sprints down the hallway, bursting into the kitchen a moment later. he quickly scans the room, zeroing in on seonghwa curled up on the floor, clutching his finger and sobbing uncontrollably, with yeosang and wooyoung standing nearby looking terrified while san is kneeling next to him attempting to calm him down. seonghwa looks up to see hongjoong and immediately reaches for him.

  
  


“a-appa! it h-hurts make it b-better!” seonghwa cries desperately, showing hongjoong his finger as the younger sits next to him.

  
  


“shhh it's okay, angel, appa’s here. what happened?” hongjoong asks soothingly, pulling seonghwa into his lap. 

  
  


“i w-was makin the waffles an then i t-touched and then ouch!” seonghwa manages to say in between sobs.

  
  


“oh hwa, i'm sorry, baby.” hongjoong soothes, rubbing seonghwa's back. “can you stand for me, angel? we need to run some cold water over the burn.” seonghwa nods through his quieting sob and shakily stands with hongjoong’s help. 

  
  


“can one of you find gauze bandages? there's probably some in the bathroom cabinet.” hongjoong says over his shoulder as he turns on the sink and carefully holds seonghwa’s finger under the cool water. yeosang nods and runs off. seonghwa whimpers as the water runs over the burn, squirming in hongjoong’s hold. 

  
  


“i know it hurts, angel, but this will make it better, i promise.” hongjoong soothes.

  
  


yeosang comes jogging back in, holding a roll of gauze bandages. hongjoong takes it from him after turning off the water and gently drying seonghwa’s hand. he slowly wraps seonghwa’s finger as san comes over to hold seonghwa’s other hand to distract him. hongjoong finally finishes, kissing the dressed burn softly and ruffling seonghwa’s hair. seonghwa giggles and leans into hongjoong’s touch, letting go of san to wrap his arms around hongjoong. he yawns quietly, and hongjoong pulls back to look at him.

  
  


“oh, angel, you must be so tired. are you ready to take a nap?” hongjoong says, tapping his finger to seonghwa’s nose.

  
  


“mhm appa, m’sleepy.” seonghwa mumbles back, practically melting into hongjoong’s arms.

  
  


“okay, silly baby, lets take a nap. say bye to your friends!” hongjoong chuckles.

  
  


the three boys give seonghwa a chorus of goodbyes, who shyly waves back. hongjoong practically carries seonghwa to the door to show their friends out, promising to text them later. as soon the their gone, seonghwa puts his full weight on hongjoong, obviously almost asleep. hongjoong sighs and picks him up completely, stumbling to the bedroom while trying his best not to drop the little. once there he drops seonghwa on the bed rather unceremoniously and tucks him in. 

  
  


“sleep well, angel.” hongjoong whispers fondly, kissing seonghwa on the forehead.

  
  


***

seonghwa sits in his bed, curled up next to hongjoong and scrolling through twitter. hongjoong practically lives in seonghwa’s apartment at this point, he's over there so often. especially since he became seonghwa's caregiver.

  
  


seonghwa has been big for a few hours. he and hongjoong had cleaned up the kitchen together once seonghwa woke up and was big again, and now they were cuddling in seonghwa's bed, enjoying each other’s company. suddenly his phone pings and a text from yeosang comes through. 

  
  


**from: yeosang**

hey hyung can i ask you something?

**to: yeosang**

sure, what's up?

**from: yeosang**

how did you know you were a little? 

  
  


seonghwa pauses. he thinks back to today’s play date, and realizes yeosang was watching him most of the time with an intense curiosity. he smiles softly, thinking about what yeosang would be like as a little. yeosang is so quiet, so he'd probably be well-behaved like seonghwa. seonghwa bets he'd be picky, and maybe whiny, but for the most part he'd be an angel. 

  
  


“what are you smiling about over there?” hongjoong says, pulling seonghwa out of his thoughts. 

  
  


“oh, yeosangie just texted me about little space. he asked me how i knew.” seonghwa replies. 

  
  


“hm, i thought he was acting curious today, maybe that's why. what are you gonna say?” hongjoong says thoughtfully. seonghwa thinks for a second.

  
  


**to: yeosang**

well, i stumbled upon the concept of age regression online around last year. remember when i was like really depressed? 

**from: yeosang**

oh yeah that was bad

**to: yeosang**

yeah i found it during that and i just decided to try it? like i was at the point where i was desperate for solutions and thought why not

**from: yeosang**

i see

**to: yeosang**

yeah and as soon as i tried it everything clicked? it felt right. and now here we are

**to: yeosang**

why do you ask?

**from: yeosang**

oh no reason just thinking

**to: yeosang**

whatever you say

**to: yeosang**

just know you can talk to me whenever, okay?

**from: yeosang**

okay

**from: yeosang **

thanks, hyung

**to: yeosang**

anytime

**to: yeosang**

now go to bed, it's past your bedtime

**from: yeosang**

hyung it's 10pm

**to: yeosang**

exactly

**from: yeosang**

okay okay goodnight hyung

**to: yeosang**

goodnight sangie <3

  
  


seonghwa puts his phone on the nightstand next to the bed and curls into hongjoong’s side. he's not telling yeosang that's it's actually his own bedtime. he gets cranky if he doesn't sleep enough, that's all.

  
  


***

yeosang makes his way quietly into the kitchen of his shared apartment with san and wooyoung after his text conversation with seonghwa. he's deep in thought, images of seonghwa’s pure happiness during the playdate swimming in his head. he can't get the idea of regressing out of his mind. 

  
  


he shakes himself out of his reverie as he pours himself a bowl of cereal. san and wooyoung are out with their friend mingi, so no one is home to judge him on his late night snack choices. he slides onto one of the bar stools and munches thoughtfully on his cereal. could he be a little? the idea was appealing, he couldn't lie. he figured seonghwa already knew, the older always had a knack for knowing what yeosang was feeling. besides, his texts were not the most subtle, but that's besides the point. 

  
  


yeosang finishes of the cereal and rinses out the bowl, still deep in his thoughts as he walks back to his room. he lays down on the bed and pulls his phone out. when he unlocks it, his texts messages with seonghwa are still open. he pauses, then sighs. he opens google and settles in to scroll through every bit of information on regression he can get his hands on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello hello! sorry it took me a while to update, i've been quite busy! hope you all like this chapter, i love reading your comments :)


	7. yeosang tried something new

seonghwa is sitting on his couch reading a rather dense book for one of his classes when he hears a knock at the door. he and yeosang had been texting back and forth for a week since that first time yeosang texted him about little space. yeosang was starting to get stressed from his classes, but he wanted to find a solution before it got to the point where it was crushing him. so yeosang has asked to try regressing with seonghwa and hongjoong. 

“babe, i think that's yeosang!” seonghwa calls into the house, setting down his book to get the door. he had banished hongjoong to the bedroom while he read so he wouldn't get distracted. 

“does that mean i can come out now?” he responds.

“yes, silly.” seonghwa yells as he reaches the door. he peers through the peephole to see yeosang standing awkwardly on the doorstep. seonghwa opens the door to welcome him in. “hey, yeosang! how are you?”

“a little cold.” yeosang says cheekily. seonghwa agreed, it was quite nippy outside.

“come inside, then!” seonghwa exclaims, waving yeosang in. the younger steps inside, shedding his fluffy black coat. 

“thanks for...everything.” yeosang says quietly as they hug in greeting. 

“of course, yeosang! i used to be where you were.” seonghwa replies warmly. “are you hungry? i was thinking about making lunch.” 

“oh, um, sure! whatever you want to make.” yeosang says.

seonghwa hums as he makes his way to the kitchen, yeosang trailing behind. he starts puttering around, collecting supplies for some simple kimchi fried rice. as he's gathering, hongjoong wanders in.

“hey, yeosang!” he says cheerfully, going in for a hug. 

“hi, joong. are you always here?” yeosang replies easily.

“oh hush, not always!”

“sometimes we go to his apartment!” seonghwa chimes in, and yeosang laughs.

“i'm sure mingi doesn’t mind that i've been giving him the place to himself.” hongjoong says, sticking his tongue out at yeosang.

“you're probably right.” yeosang chuckles. 

seonghwa pictures hongjoong’s roommate bringing his boyfriend over as often as he likes. he shudders. “who know what he gets up to with yunho.” 

the soft banter continues as seonghwa finishes up the rice. he reaches into one of the kitchen cabinets, pulling out three bowls and putting a generous helping into each one. he motions the other boys to the kitchen table, and they all make their way over to sit down. 

“hyung, you've done it again!” yeosang exclaims as they dig in.

“oh, stop it, it's nothing.” seonghwa says, blushing profusely.

“i'm serious, hyung, i don't know how you make something this good on a college kid’s budget.” yeosang insists.

“it's no big deal, anyone could do it.” seonghwa protests.

“he's right, hyung, you should be on chopped or something.” hongjoong adds.

“aren't we here to talk about yeosang?” seonghwa tries to change the subject quickly. 

“alright, alright, but i hope you know i'll be coming over more often, hyung. i'm tired of instant ramen.” yeosang huffs.

“deal.” seonghwa sighs. “so, what's the next step for you, sangie?”

“um, i'm not sure actually. we've talked a lot, but like, i think i just need to try it?” if it were possible for people to fold in on themselves, yeosang would be doing that. seonghwa watches him visibly shrink and almost coos.

“sangie, honey, you don't need to be shy with us. you can trust us.” seonghwa reassures him, reaching across the table and patting his hand. 

“we know it's awkward, but hey, me and hwa made it this far, hm? you gotta overcome the awkward bits early.” hongjoong adds. 

“okay.” yeosang says quietly. “can you…help me regress?” his voice lilts up at the end of his sentence, forming a question. 

“of course, sangie. that's what friends are for, hm?” hongjoong replies easily. “here, let's all go to seonghwa’s room and get situated. seonghwa probably needs to regress anyway, so you can do it together!” hongjoong looks to seonghwa, who nods encouragingly at yeosang.

yeosang nods gently, and follows hongjoong to seonghwa’s room. he motions for them to sit on the bed. they sit, and seonghwa takes yeosang’s hand in his own, running his thumb over yeosang’s knuckles. 

“i’m glad you trusted us with this, yeosang. i know very well what stress can do to a person, so it makes me happy that you’re taking the steps necessary to keep it at bay.” seonghwa says quietly as hongjoong rummages through seonghwa’s closet. seonghwa still insists on keeping his things hidden, despite the fact that his regression wasn’t a secret anymore.

“thanks, hyung. really.” yeosang whispers, and seonghwa watches his mouth curl into a tentative smile. 

“okay, sangie, seonghwa has quite a bit of little things that i’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing! what do you think will help you regress?” hongjoong says, tugging out the boxes of seonghwa’s things.

“um, i-i like the idea of a pacifier.” yeosang starts, his eyes boring a hole into the floor. “and um a onesie?”

“of course! those are a good start. lucky for you, little one, seonghwa has extra of both.” hongjoong says warmly. “seonghwa, are you okay with sharing?”

“yes, appa!” seonghwa chirps. he can already feeling himself slipping. he hopes that his ease of regression helps yeosang. “sangie can choose first!” 

“how nice of you, angel! wanna look at everything, sangie?” hongjoong asks.

yeosang nods, shuffling over to where hongjoong was sitting. seonghwa watches yeosang sift through his things with interest. he tilts his head, glad that his things are bringing that look of hesitant joy to yeosang’s face. he hasn't even properly regressed yet but seonghwa can see a difference. 

“this one.” seonghwa looks up to see yeosang holding out the bunny onesie. his eyes are sparkling as he looks at hongjoong for approval.

“good choice, little one! let me help you get into it, hm?” hongjoong says. yeosang nods again, and hongjoong practically coos. 

“hwa is gonna go turn on cartoons, okay, appa?” seonghwa says, getting bored of watching him work with yeosang. he knew it wasn't nice, but his attention span when he's little is quite short.

“okay, angel. meet you in there in a sec.” hongjoong replies, sending a smile seonghwa’s way. 

seonghwa smiles back and shuffles to the living room, grabbing his stuffed rabbit off the bed on his way out. he takes his favorite blanket off of the back of one of the chairs and settles on the couch. seonghwa reaches for the remote, flipping through disney plus to find an acceptable show. 

***

hongjoong is already in love with little yeosang. it's been ten minutes, and hongjoong is willing to die for him (not that he wouldn't anyway, but that's besides the point). yeosang is slowly slipping into a more comfortable headspace, and it warms hongjoong’s heart that he’s trusting him and seonghwa with it. 

“do you want a pacifier, little one?” hongjoong asks gently, as he notices that yeosang has started sucking on his fingers gingerly. 

“mhm!” yeosang nods shyly.

“mkay, baby, do you want the duck, bear, or bunny one?” 

“the duck one, please.” yeosang replies quietly. joong smiles and hands it to the boy, who places it gently in his mouth. the pacifier immediately has a visible relaxing effect on yeosang. 

“do you wanna go watch cartoons with hwa? that usually brings hwa all the way into headspace.” hongjoong asked yeosang. 

yeosang nods after a moment of thought, and hongjoong smiles. he ruffles the boy’s hair and takes his hand, leading him to the living room. they walk in to see seonghwa curled up on the couch, fast asleep. arthur is quietly playing on the tv. 

“guess he needed a nap, huh sangie?” hongjoong says, chuckling. yeosang giggles through the pacifier and hongjoong’s heart soars. he's suddenly struck with love for seonghwa, because he's let hongjoong in on this part of him, and in turn, allowed yeosang to explore himself. 

hongjoong sits down on the couch, careful not to wake seonghwa, and gestures for yeosang to join him. yeosang shuffles over and sits next to the older boy, slowly curling into his side. hongjoong wraps his arm around yeosang, pulling him closer.

it only takes yeosang ten minutes to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF sorry it took me so long to update this!! life's been crazyyyy but here we are!! hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as i enjoy writing it <333


	8. seonghwa and yeosang have a playdate

hongjoong has an idea. it might be a dumb idea, but he's hopeful. just as he did for seonghwa, he wants to help yeosang become more comfortable in his little space. this time, he's employing a few of his friends.

at the beginning of last semester, hongjoong befriended a senior in his advanced music composition class, chan. he'd become pretty good friends with chan since then, and not just because they've been paired together for a fair few projects. 

hongjoong found a forum for caregivers about two months after seonghwa told him that he was little, so he could learn how to best care for his baby. and turns out, chan was also on that forum. they found each other by chance, and have been chatting ever since. 

so now, hongjoong is contemplating calling him. from their interactions, he knows chan’s been a caregiver for much longer than himself. he wants to learn a thing or two from chan, and he also wants seonghwa and yeosang to meet other littles, so they can know that they're not alone. from what chan has said, his littles are quite fun, and he thinks that them and his boys will get along well.

hongjoong doesn't know when he started calling them his boys. it just...happened one day. seonghwa has always been his but now with yeosang...they're his little boys. he and seonghwa have gotten so much closer to yeosang in the past few weeks, and he's thought about that a lot. he’s starting to feel some of the same feelings he has for seonghwa towards yeosang, and it's confusing. he has talked talked with seonghwa, however. they don't hide things from each other. to his surprise, seonghwa feels the same way. 

but that's a conversation for another time. for now, he finally opens his phone and scrolls through his contacts, looking for chan’s name. he finds it, and clicks dial. it only rings twice before chan picks up.

“hey, joong! what's up?” chan answers the phone cheerfully, like he does everything. 

“hey, hyung! i wanted to ask you something.” hongjoong replies.

“yeah, sure!”

“so, you know how we're both caregivers?” hongjoong starts.

“yeah?”

“i was wondering if your boys would like to have a playdate with seonghwa and yeosang? i think it'd be fun!” hongjoong says quickly, suddenly nervous.

“hey, that sounds like a great idea! i'm sure jisung and felix would love that.” chan replies excitedly, and hongjoong sighs in relief. 

“that's great! i want seonghwa and yeosang to meet other littles, especially since yeosang is still very apprehensive when it comes to little space. seonghwa is doing much better, but i want to show them that they're not alone.” hongjoong explains.

“oh that's so sweet! i totally understand, it took quite a while to get sungie and lixie to warm up to their regression.” chan admits.

they quickly make arrangements for a time where everyone is free, and hongjoong hangs up feeling good about his decision to call. chan is a good friend, and hongjoong can imagine him being very good at caregiving. hongjoong can't wait to tell seonghwa and yeosang. 

\---

“hwa, angel, please just put your shoes on, we're gonna be late.” hongjoong says, exasperated. 

he's been trying to get seonghwa to get ready for the last twenty minutes with little luck. for whatever reason, seonghwa just didn't feel like cooperating. hongjoong had to fight to get the boy to brush his teeth, and getting dressed was a nightmare. and now they're so close to actually leaving the house, but seonghwa still wants to be difficult.

“don wanna!” seonghwa pouts.

“don't you want to meet lixie and sungie? we’re gonna have so much fun!” hongjoong tries, holding seonghwa’s shoes out to him.

“no! don wanna meet them!” seonghwa whines, knocking the shoes out of hongjoong’s hands. “new kids are scary!”

ah, there it is. hongjoong had been baffled as to why seonghwa would be acting like this, because usually the little was an angel. he must be scared to meet new people, hongjoong realizes.

“hwa, baby, i promise you they're not scary. i've already talked to channie hyung, and he is very excited to meet you!” hongjoong soothes, carefully sitting down next to seonghwa. 

“b-but they'll think i'm weird!” seonghwa cries, his manner changing suddenly as he leans into hongjoong’s side.

“oh, sweet baby, they won't think you're weird. sungie and lixie are little just like you!” hongjoong says as he runs his hands through seonghwa's hair.

“really?” seonghwa asks, looking up at hongjoong with his big, sparkling eyes.

“really. that's why we're having a play date, silly goose!” hongjoong says, pinching seonghwa's cheeks. “it'll be fun!”

“promise?”

“i promise, angel.” hongjoong says gently.

seonghwa nods and finally allows hongjoong to help him put on his shoes. hongjoong ties the last bow with care before standing up, helping seonghwa onto his feet. he grabs seonghwa’s “little bag” (a recent purchase hongjoong made so he could keep all of seonghwa's little essentials in case he needs them) and takes seonghwa’s hand, leading them outside to the car. he unlocks it, opening the door for seonghwa and putting the bag on the floor. hongjoong carefully buckles seonghwa in, kissing his nose before making his way to the driver's seat.

hongjoong pulls out of the apartment parking lot, making his way to yeosang’s apartment. they arrive shortly, hopping out of the car and telling seonghwa to sit tight, he'll be back soon. he finds yeosang’s apartment without much difficulty and knocks softly on the door. san opens the door with a warm smile, but hongjoong barely has time to say hello before yeosang shoots out of the door way and into hongjoong’s arms.

“joongie hyung!” yeosang exclaims, squeezing hongjoong just a little too tight.

“hi, sweetheart!” hongjoong exclaims, wrapping his arms around yeosang.

“he's been bouncing around the apartment for an hour waiting for you to get here.” san laughs as wooyoung comes up next to san.

“yeah it took us forever to get him to calm down enough to get ready!” wooyoung chuckles, smiling at yeosang, who is still attached to hongjoong. 

“well, let's hope he keeps this energy, seonghwa has been a little fussy today.” hongjoong says as wooyoung goes back into the apartment to grab yeosang’s bag. 

“is he alright?” san asks worriedly.

“oh, he's fine, i think he's just nervous.” hongjoong replies, looking back to the car where seonghwa is waiting patiently.

“okay, let's go!” wooyoung exclaims, coming back to the front door where the others were gathered.

wooyoung locks the apartment as hongjoong leads yeosang and san to the car. san opens the side door, helping yeosang in and climbing in next to him. he helps yeosang buckle his seatbelt, while greeting seonghwa. seonghwa looks much happier now that he's with yeosang, and they're both talking in hushed whispers to each other. 

“what're you two whispering about back there?” hongjoong says as he gets into the drivers seat and wooyoung gets into the passenger seat.

“nothing!” seonghwa replies while yeosang snickers.

“i'm honestly scared of them together, hyung.” wooyoung chuckles, looking back at the two littles.

“don't worry so am i. we're gonna have to keep an eye on them!” hongjoong agrees.

hongjoong nods in agreement as he pulls onto the road. the ride is relatively quiet and uneventful, san does a good job of keeping yeosang and seonghwa entertained. by the time hongjoong pulls into the driveway of chan’s house, yeosang has started bouncing in his seat from excitement, which in turn caused seonghwa to start bouncing. so that makes san and hongjoong’s job of getting them unbuckled and out of the car easier than they thought. 

they collect yeosang and seonghwa's bags and trek up the front walk. wooyoung rings the door bell, as hongjoong and san are both holding a bag and a hand. hongjoong hears excited shouting and the sound of frantic running. after a minute, the front door swings open to reveal a smiling chan, and one of his littles hiding behind him. hongjoong can't make anything about the boy out because of how far behind chan he is, and he's buring his face into chan’s back.

“hey, guys! what's up?” chan greets warmly, ushering them inside.

“hey chan! sorry we're a bit late,  _ someone _ was being a bit difficult.” hongjoong apologizes, looking pointedly at seonghwa. 

“no worries! i know how it goes!” chan says with a laugh, looking around at the boy hiding behind him. “don't i, lixie?”

_ ah, so that's felix,  _ hongjoong notes. yeosang has already zipped into the house, and wooyoung runs after him, san trailing behind with the little gear. seonghwa has, not unlike felix, hidden himself behind hongjoong. he can feel the little’s hands clinging to his sweatshirt.

“seonghwa, say hello to felix and channie hyung!” hongjoong chides, attempting to get seonghwa to step out from behind him. 

“hi.” seonghwa whispers, still clutching hongjoong.

“hey, cutie!” chan says warmly. “lixie? what do we say?”

“hello.” lixie says softly, peeking out from behind chan.

“there, that wasn't so hard!” hongjoong says, ruffling seonghwas hair. 

“do you want to show hwa your toys, lixie?” chan asks, looking at felix.

it was at that moment that hongjoong began to hear shrieks coming from the living room. he recognizes some as yeosang, and he assumes the others are jisung’s. 

“i see they're getting along well already, unless yeosang doesn't scream when he's having fun like sungie does.” chan says, chuckling.

“oh trust me, we learned very quick what a loud little thing he is once he gets comfortable.” hongjoong laughs. “hwa, angel? do you wanna see what yeosangie and sungie are up to?”

“okay!” seonghwa says, finally loosening his grip on hongjoong’s shirt. 

“shall we lead them, lixie?” chan asks gently. felix nods, and chan allows him to take the lead as they walk down the hall into the living room.

when they walk into the room, at first hongjoong doesn't know what he's looking at. yeosang and jisung are sprinting around the house, followed closely by san and a brown haired man hongjoong doesn't know but finds out later is named minho. the littles are screeching with laughter as they're chased.

“the tickle monsters are gonna get you!” san shouts, holding out his hands to act like he was about to catch yeosang. 

yeosang shrieks and flies past chan to hide behind seonghwa and hongjoong, while jisung runs behind chan and felix.

“hyungie, protect us!” yeosang shrieks as san and minho slowly advance. 

hongjoong is laughing until he takes a look at seonghwa, who looks quite close tears. he’s staring at minho and san with fear in his eyes. hongjoong nudges chan, who looks over and then at seonghwa, and he nods in understanding.

“boys, i think we need to calm down for a bit, okay?” chan says gently. “sungie, why don't you go show yeosang your stuffie collection?” 

“okay, appa!” jisung replies, grabbing yeosang’s hand and dragging him off.

“i better make sure they don't hatch a plan to burn the house down together,” minho laughs. “i have a feeling we're gonna have to keep an eye on those two.”

“you’re probably right, hyung,” san agrees. “i'll come with you.”

minho follows the boys into the house, san behind him. to hongjoong’s relief, seonghwa visibly relaxes, leaning against him. he makes eye contact with chan and smiles gratefully.

“lixie, do you want to show hwa some of your toys? i'm sure he'd love your train set!” chan asks felix gently. seonghwa perks up at chan’s words, looking up excitedly.

“hwa loves trains! don't you, hwa?” hongjoong says, looking back at the little. seonghwa nods, finally making eye contact with felix.

felix smiles softly, and tugs on chan’s shirt to lead him to the living room. hongjoong follows them, seonghwa holding his hand in a death grip. they reach the living room and seonghwa audibly gasps. there's an impressive train track snaking along the floor, and several trains at various points on the track. seonghwa’s eyes are huge, and he steps hesitantly forward towards one of the trains near him.

“c-can hwa play with the trains?” he whispers, looking up at chan.

chan looks to felix, who nods, watching seonghwa curiously. seonghwa’s face breaks out in a huge grin and he runs to the train tracks. he carefully picks up one of the train cars, inspecting it with pure joy. 

“lookit, appa! it's like mine!” hwa squeals, holding the train out for hongjoong to see.

“yes, angel, i see!” hongjoong replies, watching the little fondly.

seonghwa starts making train noises as he moves the train car he's holding along the track. felix is still watching hesitantly, but he's taken a few steps forward. chan nudges him softly, and felix finally sits gingerly next to hwa.

“they make noise on their own,” felix says quietly, picking up another train car and showing seonghwa where the switch is under the car.

seonghwa watches him with wide eyes, then giggles and claps happily when the train car makes its noises. felix laughs too, and hongjoong’s heart melts. it only takes a few minutes before the boys are running along with the trains together, making up little stories and occasionally drawing chan and hongjoong into their game. after quite a while, chan checks his watch and jumps.

“oh my, these boys must be hungry! we should start lunch soon!” he exclaims, standing up. “will you watch them while i find minho? it's his turn for lunch duty.”

hongjoong nods and watches him run off. he takes a breath, steeling himself for what's to come. he just prays lunchtime goes better than it usually does.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again!!! sorry it's been so long since i've last updated, i've been so busy!! hope you guys like this one, let me know what you think~


End file.
